Gun Charges

Jeffry Mandell has been a Gun Lawyer for more than 40 years in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

Gun laws in Illinois are some of the strictest in the country. Prosecutors in the Chicago are particularly aggressive when pursuing cases against those accused of crimes involving gun charges or weapons violations, and some felony gun charges come with mandatory minimum sentences if the accused is found guilty. If you are dealing with an arrest involving gun charges, is critical that you have an experienced gun lawyer on your side who is equally aggressive in defending your rights and freedom.

Mr. Mandell will defend you against a variety of gun related offenses including:

There are a variety of reasons an individual in the Chicagoland area could be facing gun charges. Because of the stringency of Illinois gun laws, gun owners can be charged with a weapons offense simply for failing to store or carry a gun properly. In order to carry a gun in your vehicle, you must have a Firearm Owners Identification Card, or FOID. Even with an FOID, guns in a vehicle must be inaccessible and unloaded and cannot be stored in a glove compartment. Carrying an uncased gun in your glove compartment constitutes unlawful use of a weapon (UUW), arrest for which can result in serious consequences.

There are a few key strategies to keep in my mind when facing gun charges:

The 4th amendment of the U.S. Constitution is the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. This means that police need to have a search warrant or probable cause to make a search. This issue comes up in court cases all the time. Make sure to consult your attorney to determine if there was a proper search conducted prior to the arrest.

The 5th amendment is the right against self-incrimination such as admissions to the police without proper warnings. Many times, defendants do not know that they are entitled to an attorney and have no obligation to speak to the police. Make sure to consult your attorney to determine if the defendant had been properly given their Miranda rights as required by law.

Another possible defense is whether the defendant is in actual possession of the gun. Many times, the gun is found on the person’s property but does not belong to that individual. An example is if it is found in your car, and there are other people in the car, the prosecution has to prove that the gun belongs to you.

Enhancements

If you are committing a felony, and you have, fire or shoot someone with a gun, there are severe enhancement penalties. For instance, in the case of an armed robbery, if you use a gun, the extra penalty is 15 additional years of penitentiary. If you fire the gun, the extra penalty is 20 additional years. If you shoot someone and hit them, it is an additional 25 years.

Office Location

JTM Legal

333 West Wacker Drive Ste 450

Chicago,
IL

60606

Phone: 312-782-3589

Recent Posts

Posted on: June 28, 2016

A New York Times article entitled Supreme Court Says Police May Use Evidence Found after Illegal Stops reports that citizens may not always be able to rely on evidence found during an…

Recent Posts

Posted on: January 2, 2016

A Pennsylvania appellate court has ruled that parole agents may frisk non-parolees that are guests of parolees during arrests or home visits if they suspect those people are armed and…